James Nesbitt is having great fun on
BBC 1 at 9 pm Saturdays, in a completely over-the-top performance as Dr. Jackman -- a modern day Dr. Jekyll. It's a case of split personality, with
extra features. For instance, when the good doctor changes into Mr. Hyde (yes, the villain chooses that name) he has enormous, not to say superhuman strength and incredible agility. And being set in modern times, the story incorporates a good deal of modern technology. But just when you think something is about to be explained, something else occurs to let you know that nothing is even remotely simple. Secrets abound, concerning almost every character in the story, so you really don't know where you are.
This series has the advantage of being written by Steven Moffat, who wrote the recent, very spooky
Doctor Who episode
Blink, as well as previous Who episodes, notably last year's wonderful
The Girl in the Fireplace.
We've seen two episodes of
Jekyll out of six, and so far it's been a roller-coaster of manic, gory fun. I hope it doesn't just fizzle out.
(As a companion piece to
Jekyll,
BBC Four has shown a one-off documentary,
Ian Rankin Investigates: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, which relates how Robert Louis Stevenson came to write the original.)
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